Engine.



G. A.' LOWRY ENGINE. APPLIGATION FILED MAY 7, 1910.

1,038,612t "Patented sept. 17,1912.

G. A. LOWRY.

ENGINE.

APPLIGATION HLBD MAY 7, 1910.

1,038,612., y Patenteasept; 17,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

SATES PATENT' OFFICE.

GEORGE A. LOWRY, 0F PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

Patented Sept. 17, 1912.

Application filed May 7, 1910. Serial No. 559,970.

ENGINE.

1,038,612; I Speeicaton of Letters Patent.

To allwwm it may concern.' f

Be itknown that I, GEORGE A. LowRY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pawtucket, in the county of Providence andA State of Rhode Island, have invented new and useful Improvements -in Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction `of engines for converting heatvhenergy into energy of motion, in `particular to internal combustion engines which employa gaseous combustible mixture to develop heat energy in`the engine itself, for immediate conversion into mechanical energy.

The main objects of my invention are, to

y secure the full advantage of the internal pressures in the engine, at all parts of its stroke, or active part of the cycle of motion, eliminating dead point and its disadvan tages; to establish, in an internal combustion engine, a cycle which combines the advantages and avoids the disadvantages of the four cycle principle and those of the two cycle principle; to obtain the dynamic advantages of constant torque, to expand the working gases to, or nearly to, atmospheric pressure and thus to dispense, in internal combustion engines, with the usual muiller and the back. pressurev from retardation of the exhaust, to secure in internal combustion engines, a more thorough scavenging of the cylinder than has heretofore been the case, while providing a combustible charge and power stroke, at each travel of the engine piston from the head end of the cylinder;

` and to obtain a smaller ratio of engineweightA to horsepower than has heretofore been possible, without at the same time scanting materials and'sacriicing essential Olstrength and factorl of. safety.

' It will be obvious upon perusal of the accompanying specifications, that some o f the utilities and advantages of the improvements described may be secured and embodied in heat engines of various types, e. g. steam engines or gas engines, while others relate peculiarly to engines, or heat engines of the internal combustion type. As an'engine of the latter type presents conditions favorable to the employment of the invent ion of which the objects are hereinabove recited, I will describe my improvements as Vapplied to an internal combustion engine,

and will confine the particulars of description to such an engine, as a concrete exempli- Liication of my invention.

. The principle on which my inventicn Works is as follows -Broadly speaking, my invention involves the reciprocal action and reaction of two relatively rotatable members, one of which carries the cylinder or preferably the cylinders, with pistons and pistonrods, While the other is provided with a (mmsurface, against which the piston-rod bears, so that the coaction of theworking parts of these two members involves the ,travel of the piston rods over the surface of the cam, and the reciprocations of the pistons by virtue of the eccentricity of the cam.

More particularly, and in reference to engines of the internal combustion type, the principle'of my invention involve'a cycle of movement of a piston characterized by a pause or dwell of the piston -at or near the head end of its cylinder, during a large are of the rotary movement. This 1s secured by providing the cam against which the piston rods operate, with adwell over part of its periphery. y

Again in its general aspect and applica-V tion, the principle on which my invention works involves the maintenance of a constant crank-arm factor of moment, during the entire power stroke of a piston, so'that the disadvantageous application ofrpressure a and near dead-points is eliminated.

In its aspect of special application to internal combustion engines, the principle of my invention involves also the preparation and compression outside the working cylinder, of a combustible charge, and the introduction of the charge to the cylinder While Ythe piston is at rest, or substantially so, near the head end of the cylinder.

The functionally related factors 'which operate according to the above stated principles are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view, partly in section and partly broken away, of an internal combustion engine, Fig. 2 is a section taken on 'the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,and Fig. 3 is 'a plan view of a portion of the side of the engine iu rear, or in reverse of Fig. l. I

The engine represented by the figures comprises two relatively rotatable active and' reactive members, indicated comprehensively in Fig. 2 by A and B; A including by reference a casing, working cylinders attached thereto, withthe' app oplriate pistons and piston rods, and also, 1n t e example shown, auxiliary compression cyllnders'and their ioo adjunets; B being'a shaft', with functional :factors attached,- in reactive relationship with the working parts of the member A. Neither' ofl these two main members is shown 'as anchored, or stationary, for the reason that either may be secured to a stationary base or frame, leaving the other to act as the moving member; under some conditions which are so disposed that the axes of these cylinders are canted at an 'angle to the radius of rotation, for reasons presently to be explained. Side plates A2 are secured to the shell A', and interior partitions A3, A4 are provided, and furnished with guide slots A5 and A, these being parallel to the axes of the cylinders A7, respectively. The cylinders A7, contain pistons A8, to which are secured 'piston rods A9, which are forked to receive anti-friction rollsAu, and guiding' pintles A10 which travel in the guide slots A5, A6. The-rolls ibear against and travel over the cam or eccentric B2, which. is secured to the shaft B', suitable bearings, :is-the ball bearings l1' b are provided to facilitate the rotative movement which churacterizes the relationship of the members A and B.Y The shaft B carries also thevcam4 B2 and the offset, orT crai'ik-diskBt, both of which are significant functionally in the ,Assuming for the present that shaft B and its attached parts is stationary, and that the .cylindencarrying member A ro- -vtates-'clockwise as viewed in Fig. l, the pisf cylinder.

ton of which the rod-roller is at the point marked 1 is 'atjor near thehead end of the Assume also that a compressed combustible chargefis at this point ignited in that cylinder. The full effective pressure on the piston head will 1be exerted on the cam B2, the thrust being on a line offset from the center ofrotation'by a crankarm or moment arm the length of which .depends on theA angle at which the cylinder axis is -canted vfrom the radius of rotation.

.T he exertion of this pressure and thev reaction betweenlthe piston rodroll A11 and the cam2 produces rotation, the member A with its cylinders turning clockwise in the case assumed. As the piston rod-roll passes over the surface of the cam B2, from point .l to point 2, the piston takes its full power stroke, at all times acting on the same nioment arm or crank-arm. The piston havin'g reached" the end of its power stroke at this point, the exhaust of the cylinder isV opened (by means presently to be described) and the further movement of member which carries the piston rod roll up the rise of cam B2 to point 3, returns the piston to the head end of its cylinder, driv ing the products of combustion before it. rllhe cylinder then returns to the startingv point of the cycle, the piston rod roll traveling over'the cam-dwell from 3 to l. During this period of dwell the exhaust is' closed, and a fresh combustible charge introduced into t-he cylinder, in preparation for the next ensuing power stroke.

As all the cylinders AT come into action successively in the manner above described.. the rotative torque 'is constant and the power economy high, because of the effective application of the piston thrust at all points during the power stroke. lVith the usual arrangement of piston fand crank-arm, the maximum pressure per square inch is brought to bear on the piston at or near dead point, where the effort is exerted to the least advantage, and bythe time the crank reaches the point of maximum leverage, the effective pressure has 'fallen considerably, as shown by the -characteristic indicator diagram of a gas-engine. vThe constant effective crank-arm which results from the structure and relationship et working parts inv the engine herein described affords a conirast to the conditions present in the sta'ndroll D3, at or near the time when the piston A8 has arrived at the end of its power stroke and to close the exhaust valve at or about vthe time when the piston roll A11 is passing the point 3 on the cam B2. i f

` The re-charge of the cylinders Vis eli'ected by the compression cylinders C and their associated parts. Each compression cylinder C has a piston C', connected to the rod C2, which in turn is pivoted at C3 on the collar C* which turns on the pin B5, carried by the offset B4 on shaft B'.

The intake passage E is controlled by two valves, E' and E2, which, for the sake of compact construction are made to slide, one within the other, valve E being sleeved over the stem of valve E2. Springs e', e2 hold the valves E, E2 against their respective seats. Between the valve seats lies the port 'F leading to the compression cylinder C.

As piston C. is withdrawm' the gaseous mixture (supplied by a suitable carbureter, which is not herein shown) is drawn into cylinder C, valve E opening for the purpose. TWhen piston C returns into cylinder C, the charge in cylinder C is compressed, valve E closing, and injected into the head end of the working cylinder A", valve E2 opening. When t-he piston C reaches the end of its inward stroke, valve E2 closes, even before the ignition of the compressed charge.

The cam or eccentric B2 and the oi'set pin B5 are so placed that the compression of gaseous mixture in cylinders C takes place while the pistons of the working cylinders are at rest, on account of the dwell in the surface of cam B2. The application of gas pressure on the pistons insures proper contact between cam B2 and piston .rolls A before 'the ignition of the gaseous charge takes place.

vignition is eii'ected by means of the usual spark plugs7 and a commutator or distributer, with leads appropriate to the number of working cylinders employed. These devices are not shown in the drawings.

Not only is there advantage to be gained by eliminating dead point, from setting the "wm-king cylinders at an angle to the radius of revolution, but also, this arrangement makes it possible to use a larger numbercof cylinders of given diameter, than would be the case with cylinders set with their axes radial to the center of rotation.

As the provision of a dwell in the operation of each working cylinder insures complete scavenging, the cylinders may be proportioned with a very long stroke in relation to diameter, so that the pressureon -.tages.

What I claim and desire to `secure by Letters Patent is:

In an engine, the combination of relatively rotatable active and reactive members, one equipped with a plurality of convergently directedl Working cylinders having their axes canted from'a radius of rotation, pistons and piston rods for said cylinders, charging cylinders, valved connections between the charging cylinders and working cylinders, the other member com-v prising a cam of which the working surface is eccentric to th'e axis of rotation and against which the working cylinder piston rods bear, said cam provided with a dwell between maximum radii of its eccentric surfaces, said charging cylinders timed respec.

tively to compress while their' associated working cylinders pass said dwell.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts this fifth day of May 1910.

ODIN ROBERTS, CHARLES D. VVOODBERRY.

Copies of-this patent inay be obtained lfor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

